More than a year and a half since a Florida woman was suspected of dumping her 91-year-old boyfriend's body at an Indian reservation, police arrested the elusive alleged killer.
Aprilanne Markley-Pope, 59, has been charged with abuse of a dead human body and tampering with evidence, according to Broward County jail records. She was taken into custody Tuesday.
Markley-Pope is suspected of killing Milton Ewell, of Hollywood, Florida, sometime between March 21 and March 22, 2023, according to the arrest warrant reviewed by the Lawyer Herald.
An investigation into Ewell's suspicious death began March 25 of that same year after a passerby called 911 to report the discovery of a dead body dumped on the side of the road in a rock quarry on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Broward County, Florida.
Responding Seminole police officers found the victim's skeletonized remains partially wrapped in bed sheets, a blanket and a plastic covering. The body was picked up and transported to the medical examiner for an autopsy, according to the warrant.
Hours before the body was found, and unbeknownst to police, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office attempted a traffic stop on Markley-Pope on suspicion of driving under the influence. She allegedly fled and deputies subsequently called off the chase. An hour later, she was found unconscious in the victim's car parked in a Walmart parking lot.
Markley-Pope was taken to an area hospital, but officers classified the call as medical, and therefore did not conduct a criminal investigation and were unaware there was a warrant out for her arrest for arson in Colorado, the documents read.
The next day, police received a phone call from Ewell's common law wife. Although they were separated, she told officers they kept in touch and she often looked out for him. She became concerned after not hearing from him for a few days and reported him missing.
She alleged to police Markley-Pope and Ewell had a volatile relationship and a history of domestic violence, and neighbors told police they constantly heard screaming matches between the pair.
The medical examiner was able to positively identify Ewell through the serial numbers on the prosthetic devices implanted in his hip and knee, however a cause of death could not be determined due to the body's state of decomposition, said police.
Investigators conducted a search of the victim's car and allegedly discovered what appeared to be blood on the rear bumper and on the rear car seat cushion.
A "foul odor" was also allegedly emanating from the car.
A shovel, tarp, bleach, and hydrogen peroxide were also allegedly recovered from the vehicle, according to police.
Markley-Pope was arrested April 6, 2023 on the outstanding Colorado warrant and on a separate charge of fleeing, however she was released May 9, 2023, after Palm Beach prosecutors failed to file formal charges and the state of Colorado changed its warrant to in-state pickup, only.
A new arrest warrant on tampering and abuse of a dead body was filed in March 2024, however Markley-Pope has not been implicated on murder charges.
She is being held on $200,000 bond.
